We arrived in Siwa after a ten hour public bus ride (rather torturous). On route we passed a broken down bus and I found myself glad we didn't stop to help. All I wanted to do was get off our sweat box and shower.
Siwa is a lush Oasis in the Western Desert about 50km form the Libiyan border. It is famous for its olives and dates, both of which we can verify are pretty tasty. It was amazing to see all the green palm trees and springs come into view after driving across the desert for hours on end. Because the place is so isolated its culture is very different to the rest of Egypt and they apparently speak their own Berber dialect but it all sounds the same to me. The women here are very secluded and are covered head to toe, including their face - I guess it is a good way to keep the dust off but it must be stinking hot under there. They only come out in the morning and evening on donkey carts.
I really like this place - it is so laid back and quiet - that is if you ignore the donkeys braying. They sound like their legs are being torn off one by one. The taxi rank in the main square consists of a row of donkey carts. Our accommodation was not so great - a tiny oven with one of those showers over the toilet. They really should allow women to work. We see dirt, unlike the 12 year old boys who were cleaning the rooms. The toilet bowl had never seen a cleaning product since it was installed. In fact, I don't recall seeing cleaning products for sale in this country.
The first night we viewed a spectacular desert sunset from the top of the ruins of Shali - a 13th centuary fortress that has washed away over the years. After a very slow start the next day (everything runs on Siwa time - about a two hour delay), Jon and I caught a taxi (donkey cart) to the Mountain of the Dead - a small hill near town honeycombed with rock tombs from Roman times. I think there were something like 1600 of them and these Egyption archeologists, including a boy, were digging up bones we weren't supposed to see or photograph. However, I saw a massive pile of them and called Jon over at the top of my voice. Suddenly one of the guys comes running over and quickly covers them up with bits of ply and tells me off for looking at them. It wasn't my fault they didn't cover them up properly to begin with - who wouldn't want to look at skulls and photograph them if they could?
Our donkey cart then took us to see the Temple of the Oracle. Alexander the Great came to consult the oracle here but we decided to give it a miss. Not sure if the oracle is still in working order. On the way to Cleopatra's Bath our driver (a ten year old boy) took us via the cross country route through the palm groves and crashed our cart into a tree, ripping the top of the roof off. Lots of fun. I tell you, the crazy driving starts at a young age in this country and they only get worse as they get older. Thank goodness their religion forbids alcohol. I hate to think what the road toll would be if it were different. I was a bit disappointed to see that my cellulite hadn't disappeared after a dip in Cleopatra's spring.
Late in the arvo we went sand boarding down some steep desert dunes. It wasn't as fun as I had imagined as my board went about 2 metres before it came to a stop. I guess it would have helped if our guides waxed the boards first. By the time they offered to do so I was sick of climbing up and down the dunes. The cold and hot springs we swam in were worth the trip though.
Siwa is a lush Oasis in the Western Desert about 50km form the Libiyan border. It is famous for its olives and dates, both of which we can verify are pretty tasty. It was amazing to see all the green palm trees and springs come into view after driving across the desert for hours on end. Because the place is so isolated its culture is very different to the rest of Egypt and they apparently speak their own Berber dialect but it all sounds the same to me. The women here are very secluded and are covered head to toe, including their face - I guess it is a good way to keep the dust off but it must be stinking hot under there. They only come out in the morning and evening on donkey carts.
I really like this place - it is so laid back and quiet - that is if you ignore the donkeys braying. They sound like their legs are being torn off one by one. The taxi rank in the main square consists of a row of donkey carts. Our accommodation was not so great - a tiny oven with one of those showers over the toilet. They really should allow women to work. We see dirt, unlike the 12 year old boys who were cleaning the rooms. The toilet bowl had never seen a cleaning product since it was installed. In fact, I don't recall seeing cleaning products for sale in this country.
The first night we viewed a spectacular desert sunset from the top of the ruins of Shali - a 13th centuary fortress that has washed away over the years. After a very slow start the next day (everything runs on Siwa time - about a two hour delay), Jon and I caught a taxi (donkey cart) to the Mountain of the Dead - a small hill near town honeycombed with rock tombs from Roman times. I think there were something like 1600 of them and these Egyption archeologists, including a boy, were digging up bones we weren't supposed to see or photograph. However, I saw a massive pile of them and called Jon over at the top of my voice. Suddenly one of the guys comes running over and quickly covers them up with bits of ply and tells me off for looking at them. It wasn't my fault they didn't cover them up properly to begin with - who wouldn't want to look at skulls and photograph them if they could?
Our donkey cart then took us to see the Temple of the Oracle. Alexander the Great came to consult the oracle here but we decided to give it a miss. Not sure if the oracle is still in working order. On the way to Cleopatra's Bath our driver (a ten year old boy) took us via the cross country route through the palm groves and crashed our cart into a tree, ripping the top of the roof off. Lots of fun. I tell you, the crazy driving starts at a young age in this country and they only get worse as they get older. Thank goodness their religion forbids alcohol. I hate to think what the road toll would be if it were different. I was a bit disappointed to see that my cellulite hadn't disappeared after a dip in Cleopatra's spring.
Late in the arvo we went sand boarding down some steep desert dunes. It wasn't as fun as I had imagined as my board went about 2 metres before it came to a stop. I guess it would have helped if our guides waxed the boards first. By the time they offered to do so I was sick of climbing up and down the dunes. The cold and hot springs we swam in were worth the trip though.
1 comment:
So Karyn still has cellulite and Jon is sporting a hairy Arabian chin! It sounds like you are busy each day seeing amazing things. Enjoying the blog
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